Aviat WTM 4400 Quad all-outdoor radio

Aviat Networks has announced the WTM 4400, also known as the Quad, which supports four independent microwave channels in one all-outdoor radio unit. It is suitable for operators upgrading network capacity and reducing infrastructure CAPEX and OPEX.

The product supports high-capacity microwave links in a single all-outdoor unit — up to 5 Gbps in 4x 112 MHz channels (ETSI) or 3 Gbps in 4x 80 MHz channels (ANSI) — without external combining, antenna mediation devices or indoor units. All traffic aggregation is performed using the company’s Layer 1 Link Aggregation (L1LA) algorithm.

The device supports 4-channel aggregation using only two transceivers using Aviat’s Adaptive Dual Channel (A2C+) feature, halving the hardware required compared to traditional methods that need one transceiver per channel. The product also adapts to weather conditions by reverting to two-channel operation during a deep fade event and applying an automatic power boost of up to 7.5 dB to keep high-priority traffic running without interruption. Full capacity returns automatically when the fade ends.

With A2C+, the device combines four channels onto a single antenna without the significant loss of RF couplers, resulting in up to 10 dB more system gain compared to alternative 4+0 solutions. This enables operators to deploy 4+0 links using antennas that are 50% smaller. Alternatively, operators can use the extra power to deploy longer links with same antenna size compared to competing solutions.

Operators can deploy the device in two-channel mode, and then when needed can enable the additional channels to increase link capacity by up to 100%. This can be achieved remotely via software in a matter of minutes, with no additional hardware and no site visits or tower climbs.

The product functions all in one box mounted directly to a standard microwave antenna, compared to alternative solutions which may require up to four outdoor radios with external couplers and an indoor unit. There is just one unit to order, ship, install and maintain, one network element to configure and manage, up to a 50% reduction in power consumption, and higher mean time between failure (MTBF) for fewer failures.